Map Sliding Puzzle

Tutorial

I've made a detailed tutorial on how to design such a puzzle that you can find HERE!

Description

These puzzles are a great way to spend some time and learn a bit of geography! Additionally the 3D texture makes them accessible to visually impaired people too!

You most likely are accustomed with Sliding Puzzles but for those who are unaware they are a combination puzzle, usually made from wood or plastic, that challenges a player to slide pieces along certain routes (usually on a board) to establish a certain end-configuration. The pieces to be moved may consist of simple shapes, patterns, sections of a larger picture, numbers, letters or in this case maps! The pieces cannot be lifted out of the frame or rearranged in any way, except by sliding them into an empty space. But how is this achieved? Well, the blocks cannot fall because they have a built in angle that allows them to interact with the frame and the other blocks simply by sliding.

Print Files

There are few print files you can find. 

• A 3x3 Treasure Map Puzzle
• A 8x5 World Map Puzzle
• A 4x4  Greece Map Puzzle
• A 4x4 Chechia Map Puzzle 
• FullyParametricSlidingPuzzle (.f3d/.step). These allow you to import the design into your CAD program and edit it like you would any other design of yours! If you import it into Fusion 360 using the .f3d file you'll also be able to take advantage of the fully parametric nature of the design, meaning you can change the number of blocks, their sizes, clearances etc. simply by changing the values from  Solid > Modify > Change Parameters. Make sure to check out my tutorial linked above to easily add new pictures to the map.
• For those who like to use Tinkercad or don't feel like messing with the design much I have also added a 3x3 and a 4x4 puzzle without any image or map as .stl files for you to add whatever you like on top of!

Still I would encourage you to follow the instructions and design your own puzzle from scratch, as that experience is far more rewarding and educational!

Print Directions

You can print them in any material you feel comfortable with and at a layer height of 0.2mm or finer.

Additionally, I would suggest making a colour change before the map texture to really make it pop out!